User blog:PegasusMan/Monthly Blog 1 - Duplicates and Synonyms
Monthly Blog 2 »» ---- Hello Donkey Kong Wiki users! PegasusMan here! In this Monthly Blog, I'll be discussing duplicate category names and many mistakes made with synonyms. Wait... Monthly Blog? What's that? I've decided to start doing Monthly Blogs to inform the community about many things that may go unnoticed while editing Donkey Kong Wiki. In a nutshell, my Monthly Blogs will include: * Donkey Kong Wiki news (e.g. for this blog, the news is about Monthly Cursors) more information below... * A topic, or the meat of the blog (e.g. "Duplicates and Synonyms"); I choose the topic from the "General editing tips" portion of my profile if you're wondering * A shout out to the top contributor of the previous week that I post the blog post (I intend to post at the beginning of each month, so the top contributor will be from the last week of the previous month) And that's basically it! Monthly Blogs are something that I intend to use to clear up minor (or not-so-minor) oddities commonly made on this wiki. Now, some users here may already know not to make the oddity. If you're one of them, just take a quick skim as a refresher on what I'm talking about. I'll try not to make Monthly Blogs too long (this one is already kind of long, but that's because I'm explaining the use of it), but you never know; there could be a topic that could take a while to explain, so please bear with me. Anyways, onto the blog itself. News Monthly Cursors are go! The community has voted, and the poll on the homepage says that 15 people vote yes to Monthly Cursors, and 6''' vote no. Monthly Cursors are cursors that are themed to the current month of the northern hemisphere. Basically, if the month is December in the northern hemisphere, the cursor will be winter or snow themed. I'm really excited to implement this onto the wiki! You can post your feedback here, where you can also learn more about Monthly Cursors. Duplicates and Synonyms Before I begin discussing, here is what the "General editing tips" part of my profile says about duplicates and synonyms. It is an overview of what I am about to explain. * Watch out for '''synonyms (such as "levels" and "stages") used in the same context; make sure you are using the right one. This can be done by visiting a related page and looking for that word. If the page uses "stages," use stages. * Be careful when creating a new category; the category you are about to create may have already been created, but with ''different words'' (i.e. making a new category called "Jungle Levels," when "Jungle Stages" already exists; "levels" and "stages" are the same thing, and thus you only need one) ---- Synonyms Think of two words that essentially mean the same thing, like "spin" and "rotate." Since they mean the same thing, they are referred to as synonyms. "Spin" is a synonym of "rotate." For every English word, there is a synonym. I think you get the hang of this. Now, think of two synonyms in the context of the Donkey Kong universe; for instance, "stage" and "level." Since they are synonyms of each other, they can be used indiscriminately, right? Well, yes and no. Here at Donkey Kong Wiki, we would like you to only use one. If you used synonyms, some visitors looking for quick information may get confused. "But wait!" I hear you say. "Shouldn't the visitors know what the page is trying to say, since synonyms mean the same thing? It doesn't matter which one the page uses!" This leads me to my next subtopic - duplicates. Duplicates There are other reasons to be consistent in your word choices, not only for our visitor's sake, but also for categorization (wow, that's a big word). If we aren't consistent, we will have categories like "Jungle stages," and "Jungle levels." They mean the same thing, right? Yes, they do, and they are duplicates of each other; thus we only need one of them (and the one we want is "Jungle stages"). If you make sure you are consistent in your word choices, you should have no problem asking yourself the questions, "Does this category I want to create already exist, with the only difference being a synonym?" and, "Should I use (insert your word here) or its synonym?" The only question you should not have the answer to is "How do I know that I am consistent in my word choices?" Checking consistency You can check if you are consistent in your word choices or not by simply viewing a related page to the one you are editing presently (or even just searching the word(s) in the search bar at the top), and then using the find tool (via ctrl + f) to search for your word on the related page. Still confused? Here's an example. If I'm not sure to use the words "game system" or a word like it on the page entitled "Game Boy Advance," I would either go to a related page to "Game Boy Advance," or search "game system" in the search bar at the top. I will do both to demonstrate (yes, I'm actually doing it as I type). Method 1 - viewing a related page First, I will go to a related page. How about Nintendo DS? The DS is also a handheld game system, like the Game Boy Advance. Once I get to the Nintendo DS page, use the find tool. The find tool is a tool that enables me to search for (a) specific word(s) on a page. Just hold the ctrl button and press the 'f' key. A small rectangular window will appear on your screen. With the find tool open, I can now search the words "game system." Haha! "Game system" appears on the page! Since it appears here, I should be able to use it on "Game Boy Advance" as well. Method 2 - using the search bar at the top You know the search bar at the top of every page? The one that says, "Search Donkey Kong Wiki...?" Yeah; that's the one we're going to use. First, I will search the words "game system" in the search bar. See the bolded words? They are either "game, system," or "game system." We want game system, so use the find tool (ctrl + f) and type "game system." There we go! We have seven matches for "Game system." Next, ask yourself the questions, "Does the word(s) I searched appear in a preview of a page?" Previews of pages are the text under a page's link. If you answer "yes" to the question above, you're good to use "game system" on "Game Boy Advance." Top contributor Last week's top contributor was Ozank Cx, with 175 contributions! Congratulations, Ozank! ---- If you have a question, post a comment regarding it! Terminus of blog..._ Category:Blog posts